There are 295 of these mechanized workers for every 10,000 manufacturing Japanese – a robot density almost 10 times the world average, more than triple that of the U.S. (84) and nearly six times more than Europe (50).

* According to a prediction by the Japanese government, the domestic robot industry will be worth $67 billion in 2025. And no other country seems to be able to keep up. North America-based companies sold industrial robots worth $979.4 million in 2008, while the Japan Robot Association says the domestic market for those machines is currently sized at about $6.7 billion.

* Shintoism (japan's primary religion) has an acceptance that inanimate objects can have a spirit. This and similar attitudes in other Asian beliefs made asia and japan more culturally ready to be receptive of robots

* In the 1950s there were the success of Astro boy and other robot centric cartoons and movies. This provided a source of inspiration for scientists much like western scientists and engineered are inspired by Star Trek and making devices and inventions that they saw there

* But perhaps the most important factor is Japan’s strategic economic planning in this field, which is heavily influenced by demographic development. The government actively supports private companies to make sure Japan keeps spearheading the robotics industry, one of its key sectors targeted for promotion.

* The government makes no secret that it sees intelligent robots playing a key role in coping with the rapidly aging population. In 2007, the Japanese government announced that it wants to see one million industrial robots installed in the country by 2025.